The Great Basin Intermountain
region encompasses approximately 200,000 acres of land west of the Rocky
Mountains, much of which is overseen by the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM). The native plant communities of this region have become increasingly
degraded due to overgrazing, the presence of non-native invasive species
(i.e. cheatgrass [Bromus spp.]), and wildfires. In their efforts to restore
and revegetate degraded areas after wildfires, the BLM has implemented
a program to resow areas with seed from a mixture of species. With the
goal of increasing the use of native species in these seed mixtures,
a key question is how important seed source is in the success of the
seed planting. As the Great Basin region covers a vast area and includes
a wide variety of physical and biological conditions, it is possible
that seed collected from one area will not be suited for the conditions
in another. Consequently, the BLM has engaged the Chicago Botanic Garden
to assist in addressing this question. For this, we are using six species
from two of the most common genera in this region, Penstemon spp. (beardtongue)
and Eriogonum spp. (buckwheat). In the first year of this multiple-year
study, we have investigated various aspects of seed biology (maternal
contribution, stratification period and germination rates) to determine
whether local differences exist for these fitness traits. We present
results for two of the six study species, indicating that seed responses
vary significantly among population, and that these responses may be
explained by the length and severity of winter experienced at the collection
site. Relevance of these findings to restoration activities using seed
will be discussed.

It is well known that fire plays
a role in the maintenance of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem. Fire helps
maintain species richness and discourages the growth of invasive species.
Many species of prairie plants are adapted to periodic fire. Heat is
required for the germination of seeds of some prairie species. such as Iliamna
remota (Chasan and Hart, 1996), as well as for seeds in other fire-prone
ecosystems. Smoke stimulated germination in California chaparral, the
South African fynbos, and Western Australian scrub, but the effect of
smoke on prairie seeds had not previously been investigated. This study
treated 11 species and three hybrid cultivars of prairie plants with
aerosol smoke for varying lengths of time to identify species stimulated
by smoke. The results were mixed; some species experienced increased
or decreased germination percentages, and others were unaffected. The
results of this study may benefit both restoration efforts and the horticultural
trade.

The tallgrass prairie of North
America was once a vast, continuous habitat, but it is now fragm8ented
into small, isolated remnants. Fragmentation affects pollinator dynamics,
resulting in pollen limitation in many prairie species with inbreeding
avoidance mechanisms like self-incompatibility. The common perennial Echinacea
angustifolia, the narrow-leaved purple coneflower, experiences an
increase in pollen limitation as remnant size decreases. We tested the
hypotheses that the duration of pollen viability and style receptivity,
and the mechanics of self-incompatibility, play a role in pollen limitation
in E. angustifolia. We conducted three experiments: one with aging
pollen and fresh styles, another with aging styles and fresh pollen,
and one where we examined pollen tube growth in four pollination treatments
at specific times after pollination. We found that freshly emerged pollen
fertilized in 50% of ovules, but by day 7 in only 27%. Similarly, we
found that style receptivity decreased over time. As styles aged, seed
set decreased from 76% on day 1 to 36% on day 9. We found all pollen
produced pollen tubes, but compatible pollen did so at a significantly
higher rate and set significantly more seeds than incompatible pollen.
These results show that pollen viability and style receptivity decrease
over time, thus limiting the opportunity for plants in fragmented populations
to receive compatible pollen.

The Midwest Invasive Plant Network
(MIPN) is a diverse group of organizations dedicated to addressing the
threat of invasive plants in the Midwest. The group's mission is to address
the problem of invasive plants and their threat to the Midwest region's
economy, environment, and human health by providing leadership, facilitating
information development and exchange, and coordinating regional efforts.

Currently, a lack of coordination
among groups working on invasive plant species projects in the Midwest
has led to a tremendous duplication of effort and missed opportunities
for collaboration at the regional level. The MIPN proposes to facilitate
that collaboration and information sharing and help to energize the local
projects going on throughout the Midwest.
The poster will describe the goals of the MIPN, which include: producing
a list of invasive plant species mapping and inventory projects in the
Midwest (including information on associated early detection-rapid response
projects) and a recommended data standard to be followed that will be communicated
to all involved in such projects; providing regional educational materials
to raise awareness regarding invasive plant species in the Midwest; creating
a website decided to invasive plant species issues in the Midwest, which
will feature the products mentioned above as well as information on legislative
efforts, funding opportunities, control techniques, current research, and
other information specific to the Midwest; and regular communication between
invasive species researchers, managers, and other interested in or affected
by this topic through a listserv, conference calls, workshops, and meetings.

Restoring prairies is essential
to the preservation of grasslands that were once common to Illinois.
A practice often associated with restoration is cultivation of the topsoil.
This disturbance causes an increase in soil nitrogen (N) levels, which
provides weedy species a competitive advantage over native species or
space and resources. At the Chicago Botanic Garden's Dixon Prairie, we
are studying the effects of incorporated materials with high C:N on soil
where N levels are high. We hypothesized that carbon (C) addition will
stimulate soil microbe activity, thereby immobilizing soil N, causing
a temporary decrease in soil N levels. In addition, we predict floristic
quality and native plant biomass should increase with decreasing soil
N. In order to test our hypothesis, the prairie was divided into sixteen
plots, each containing a control or one of three amendments in the form
of wood chips, wood shavings or a combination of chips and shavings.
From these 16 plots data for NO3 and NH4, biomass, and floristic quality
were collected. Our results showed that in 2003 and 2004, C addition
reduced available N, except for plots with shavings. Floristic quality
increased, especially in the chips and shavings/chips treatments. We
also found that in 2003 and 2004, C addition increased native plant biomass
in all plots and decreased all non-native plant biomass except for the
control. Our data indicates that soil carbon addition may be useful in
controlling weedy species in the early stages of prairie restoration.

Microstegium vimineum (Japanese
stilt grass) is an invasive grass in the eastern half of the United States
that can form dense monocultures in forest understories, displacing native
species. Though the loss of native species has been observed in the field,
the actual competitive ability of this grass has not been reported. Microstegium
vimineum was competed under controlled environment, greenhouse conditions
against Lolium perenne spp. multiflorum (annual rye grass)
and Muhlenbergia mexicana (Mexican muhly) in varying density ratios
in full and low light treatments. Microstegium vimineum had a
greater relative growth rate, as well as greater aboveground biomass
than both competitors in both light treatments. The high competitive
ability of M. vimineum, especially in low light conditions, makes
it a particularly insidious invasive species with the potential to spread
aggressively across the landscape of Eastern North America.

Plants of Concern (POC), launched
in 2000, is a regional, long-term monitoring program for state-listed
and other rare plant species in Northeast Illinois. It is a flexible
collaboration of public and non-governmental conservation agencies, landowners
and volunteer groups, guided by an advisory group of land managers, scientists
and volunteers. A key program component is training volunteers to collect
data as a means of leveraging scarce landowner resources. POC monitoring
utilizes standardized protocols to ensure consistency of data and combines
population censusing with assessment of threats and invasive species.
A major goal is to relate population trends with management practices,
in order to provide feedback to managers following an adaptive management
process. Since 2001, 53 volunteers monitored 281 occurrences of 122 species,
working with 51 landowners at 112 sites. Data indicate that a majority
of populations of rare species suffer high invasive species presence
and other stresses. They also indicate one or more management activities
being implemented within a significant number of populations. The poster
focuses on program concept and data analysis results over three years
of monitoring. POC is coordinated through the Chicago Botanic Garden
and is funded by Chicago Wilderness, a regional conservation coalition,
and by the Corporation for Open Lands (CorLands).

This study investigated the
current methodology for the restoration of dune systems using Ammophila
breviligulata (Marram Grass, American Beachgrass). We collected samples
from well-established spontaneous Illinois populations, planted populations
and suppliers of Ammophila breviligulata rootstock. We were able
to show that genetic diversity in natural, well-established populations
varied from two clones to up to eight clones in the same area. On closer
examination of the spatial distribution and spread of individual clones,
it was found that in more heterogeneous environments with lower plant
densities, there were often multiple genotypes over a small spatial scale,
while more dense stands would be comprised of a single large monomorphic
stand. With planted populations the level of genetic diversity tended
to be lower than that of natural populations, with a more even distribution
of clones and fewer genotypes over small spatial scale.

To examine the effects of habitat
fragmentation on the abundance and diversity of pollinators visiting
narrow-leaved purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia), a common
prairie plant, we observed and collected insect visitors on Echinacea flowers
in 20 prairie remnants in western Minnesota. Echinacea populations
within these remnants ranged in size from 3 to approximately 4500 flower
plants, and their isolation and landscape context differed. We visited
each site 3-4 times during the flowering season, and observed 5 randomly
selected flowering plants during each visit. During observations we recorded
descriptions and behaviors of all insect visitors, and collected a subset
of visitors for identification purposes. Native bees and syrphid flies
(Syrphidae) accounted for the majority of insects collected on observed Echinacea flowers,
with 9 genera of bees from 4 different families (Halicitidae, Anthophoridae,
Andrenidae, Megachilidae) represented in our collections. We present
data on the spatial patterns of Echinacea pollinator abundance
and diversity.

Faced with fragmented habitats
and low self-seed viability, the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid, Platanthera
leucophaea, has been placed on the federally threatened species list.
While several experiments (see for instance Bowles, 2002) have examined
the viability of self versus outcross seed, there is a serious need to
understand why this phenomenon occurs in order to create the most effective
conservation strategy.

This study compares the effects
of self versus outcross pollination on pollen tube growth in P. leucophaea and
attempts to explain the observed lower viability of selfed seeds. Eighty
plants from a population in Iowa were randomly chosen for the experiment,
forty of which were self-pollinated and the other half outcrossed. Individual
flowers were fixed in FAA at one of four randomly assigned collection
times, stained with aniline blue, and then examined under fluorescence
microscopy.

In addition to qualitative data
that illustrate several irregularities in self pollen tube growth as
compared to outcross tube growth, the quantitative results of both an
Analysis of Variance test and a logistic regression show that self-pollen
tubes grow at a significantly slower rate than outcross tubes. These
observations suggest that there could be a complex system of self-incompatibility
in P. leucophaea.

The last 150 years have seen
significant changes to the savannas of the Texas Hill Country brought
on primarily by fire suppression and overgrazing. As we begin to restore
these environments, we must have a better understanding of the effects
of the land management tools at our disposal, and how these affect community
dynamics in all seasons. Prescribed fire in throughout the Midwest is
commonly applied during dormant season, and few studies have documented
the differences between various burn seasons. The Wildflower Center sought
to test this by applying four treatments (n=6) of prescribed fire (winter,
summer, fall and no fire) over 24 randomly selected plots (approximately
0.75 ha each) for two consecutive years. We sought to test the assumptions
surrounding floristic guild response to seasonal application of prescribed
fire, with the assumption that disturbance occurring while the guild
was dormant would be most likely to benefit the species within this guild.
Results, however, have shown that responses of species within guilds
are far from uniform, often exhibiting no response or contra-indicated
responses. While guild responses to fire season were not predictable,
overall community structure and productivity were significantly influence
by burn season. This study suggests that burn season radically effects
community structure and that guild alone -- at least at the specificity
at which they are commonly applied -- are not good predictors of these
responses. This understanding will be critical for designing restoration
projects that are aimed at restoring ecosystems with a specific desired
community composition.

Support for this conference
was provided by the following sources: The Janet Meaking Poor Research
Symposium Endowment Fund of the Chicago Botanic Garden, Lincolnshire
Garden Club, USDA Forest Service/Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie